System and method for the presentation of advertisements

ABSTRACT

A system and method for the presentation of advertisements is present. According to one embodiment, a number of impressions of an advertisement message are presented over a computer network such as the Internet to a variety of viewer computers. Depending on the actions taken by the viewers (e.g., whether the Viewer selects the advertising message and accesses a web-link to the advertiser&#39;s web-site), bonus exposure (e.g., an additional number of impressions provided to the viewers) of the advertising message is given.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of thefiling date of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/832,448,filed Aug. 1, 2007; which in turn is a continuation of and claims thebenefit of the filing date of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/446,131,filed Jun. 5, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,412,406; which in turn is acontinuation of and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/846,431, filed Apr. 30, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.7,089,195. The entire disclosures of each of the foregoing applicationsis herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for thepresentation of advertisements. More particularly, the present inventionpertains to a system and method of presenting bonus exposure of anadvertisement based on interest of one or more Viewers in theadvertisement.

Advertising is a common way for a seller of goods and services togenerate sales. In traditional media, such as television and printmedia, an advertisement is seen by a variety of people. Only a portionof those people, if any, will be inclined to seek out more informationfrom the seller and fewer still will eventually purchase the goodsand/or services offered for sale. In the traditional media, there istypically a limited supply of space for advertisements. For example, ahalf-hour television show will provide perhaps no more than eightminutes for advertisements. In the art, the amount of resources (e.g.,physical space, time, etc.) available for advertising is sometimesreferred to as inventory. In recent years, the Internet has provided anew and powerful medium for advertising.

The Internet is now regarded as a powerful tool for advertising andmarketing services and products. The amount of money spent on.Internet-based advertising has increased dramatically over itsrelatively short history and is expected to rise consistently in theforeseeable future. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB),over $2 billion dollars was spent on Internet-based advertising in thefirst quarter of the calendar year 2000 (a three-fold increase over thesame period of 1999). Jupiter Communications, a New York consultingfirm, has predicted that Internet or “on-line” advertising will reach$28 billion by 2005. The IAB has predicted that Internet-basedadvertising will grow almost 40% annually between 2000-2004. Theincrease in availability of Internet advertising and the number ofpersons who use the Internet will affect the advertising industry as awhole. As systems of accountability are developed and the amount ofadvertising inventory increases, vendors or publishers in all media willbe faced with the problems of attracting advertisers while, at the sametime, covering overhead costs.

One problem associated with current methods of selling Internetadvertising is the difficulty of striking a fair and reasonable balancebetween fixed-fee based pricing and performance-based pricing. Whileproviders of advertising resources (“Sellers”) generally seek todecrease their financial risk by charging a fixed fee for advertisingspace, purchasers of advertising resources (“Buyers”) seek to decreasetheir financial risk by basing payment on performance (i.e. the numberof viewers of the advertising content (“Viewers”) that perform a definedaction, such as visit a store or web-site or make a purchase). Sellershave attempted to cover costs and attract Buyers by offering hybrids ofthe fixed-fee and performance-based pricing models, but pressuresbrought on by increased accountability and a surplus of inventory, havemade it increasingly difficult for Sellers to secure fair and balancedpricing.

Sellers have been pressured into offering more performance-based pricingmodels because of the increase in the accountability of deliverysystems, particularly with regard to Internet advertising.Traditionally, advertising fees are based on the number of Viewersexposed to the advertising content. That model, however, is beingchanged.

Recent methods of advertising have made it possible to determine notonly the volume and demographic information on Viewers who see aparticular advertising message, but the number of Viewers who actuallyrespond to a particular advertising message by buying a product orregistering with a merchant as a potential purchaser. An example of sucha method is a billboard that lists a special phone number along with theadvertising message. If a Viewer calls that phone number, then themerchant knows that the Viewer became interested in the product orservice because of the billboard message. Another example isInternet-based advertising, where a set of instructions is attached toan advertising banner that redirects the Viewer to the merchant'sweb-page when that Viewer “clicks” on the banner. In this way, themerchant knows that the Viewer became interested in the product orservice because of that message. Buyers use these methods ofaccountability to leverage Sellers into basing their fees on suchperformance.

Sellers have also been pressured into a more performance based pricingmodel by a surplus in inventory, particularly with regard to Internetadvertising. For example, the inherent nature of the Internet creates arapidly increasing amount of advertising inventory. Each Viewerdownloads or, in effect, “creates” each presentation of the advertisingmessage image (called an “impression”) on the viewing screen. The numberof impressions that may be viewed on a single screen is limited only bythe amount of time the Viewer spends at the computer and the amount oftime it takes to download an advertising image from the network. Thenumber of Viewers is growing steadily as is the number of web-sites.Given these facts, and the fact that the potential inventory ofadvertising space on a particular web-site is limited only by the sizeof the site, which is also expandable, the potential supply ofadvertising inventory across the Internet is almost limitless. Truecommodity pricing assumes that a finite amount of the commodity will beavailable, whereas an ever-increasing supply of the commodity means thatthe price of that commodity will continue to decrease. Sellers areleveraged into offering a more performance-based pricing model becausethey cannot maintain fixed-fee-based commodity pricing.

The pressure on Sellers of Internet advertising to provide performancebased pricing models is particularly intense because the Internetprovides a high degree of accountability and potential inventory isalmost limitless. When comparing the Internet advertising marketplace tothe television or radio advertising marketplace, it is noted that thesupply of television or radio commercials is dictated by the number ofchannels and the hours in a day. In the Internet marketplace, however,the low price of entry for new publishers and the proliferation ofdesktop applications and web-sites mean that the amount of advertisingspace will expand at a much greater rate than traditional broadcastadvertising space and, thus, there are really no fixed resources toenter into the pricing structure for this type of advertising.

Currently, Sellers of Internet advertising are forced to compete withone another by offering performance based pricing and by increasing theattractiveness of their web-sites. If sites are more attractive (usefulor entertaining) to the right kind of Viewer, then they will attractadvertisers (Buyers of advertising) who want to reach those specificViewers. Higher attractiveness means greater overhead costs forcreating, managing, and delivering attractive content. If a Seller'srevenues are based entirely on performance-based pricing models, it willrun the risk of not being able to cover costs. For example, a Sellerhaving a great reputation for attracting Viewers because of the qualityof its content may run a particular Buyer's advertising campaign that,for whatever unanticipated reason, fails to attract any response fromViewers. If that Seller had based its revenue primarily on aperformance-based pricing model, its revenue may be so low as to notcover overhead costs.

In view of the above, there is a need for an improved system and methodfor the presentation and sale of advertising in a variety of advertisingmedia, especially in the Internet environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include methods and systems forselling advertising, which incorporates a unique pricing model whereinadvertising Buyers earn bonus exposure to the advertising message basedon the reflected interest by the Viewers in that advertising message.Although the method may be used with all advertising media, it isparticularly well suited to Internet advertising. The methods andsystems help Sellers secure fixed-fee pricing while offering aperformance-based incentive to Buyers. In addition, these methods andsystems can attract potential Buyers, but help maintain customerloyalty, encourage effective creative advertising design and placement,and assist Sellers in management of unsold inventory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the interaction of parties involved ina method and system for advertising according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram for a method of selling advertising accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a decision tree diagram illustrating an example of the processof presenting exposure of an advertising message based.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a system for implementing the businessmethod using a communications network.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an alternative system for implementingthe business method using a communications network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a first embodiment of the present invention, a computer networkenvironment such as the Internet will be described. The presentinvention can be applied outside of a computer network environment andshould not be considered limited to such an environment.

To more fully understand embodiments of the system and method of thepresent invention, a brief review of fixed-fee pricing andperformance-based pricing for advertisements is presented below.

A fixed-fee pricing of Internet advertising is usually based on Cost PerThousand (CPM; where “M” is the roman numeral for 1,000) of advertisingmessage impressions delivered to the Viewers. For example a Buyerspending $20,000 on a certain advertising campaign might negotiate a CPMof $10 and receive 2,000,000 advertisement impressions delivered to theViewers.

Performance-based pricing of Internet advertising is usually based onCost Per Action (CPA) where the Seller receives payment when the Viewerperforms a particular “action” in response to the advertising message.Such “actions” may include the following:

-   -   Cost per Click: The Buyer pays a fixed fee to the Seller every        time a reader “clicks” (selects a link such as a hypertext link        associated with the advertising message with a cursor movement        device or the like) on the physical advertising unit displaying        the advertising message, which results in a Viewer being        redirected to a site determined by the Buyer (such as the        Buyer's electronic-commerce or Internet site) associated with        the link. The viewer's computer would then display content from        the site(s) associated with the link.    -   Cost Per Customer: The Buyer pays a fixed fee to the Seller        every time a Viewer who is viewing an advertising message on a        Seller's site clicks on that advertising message, is redirected        to the Buyer's site, and completes a purchase transaction on the        Buyer's site.    -   Cost Per Name: The Buyer pays a fixed fee to the Seller every        time the Seller collects relevant viewer information (such as a        name or electronic mail (e-mail) address) of a Viewer who is        viewing the Seller's site and gives the Seller permission to        transfer this information to the Buyer or Buyer's computer        system.

Assuming that the Buyer has the same budget of $20,000 for a certainadvertising campaign, it may negotiate a CPA of $1.00 with the Sellerthat includes as many impressions that will be downloaded to Viewers toobtain 20,000 actions. Typically, the Buyer and Seller will payattention to the rate of actions per impressions delivered to determinewhether or not the advertising campaign is effective. If the rate islower than anticipated by either party, the campaign is likely to bechanged either by changing the content or placement of the message or bycanceling the campaign itself (either by the Buyer or the Seller). It isusually the Buyer that will cancel a campaign and use a different Sellerif the rate of return is less than expected. This leaves the Seller withthe additional problem of maintaining Buyer loyalty in the campaign.Currently, 48% of all Internet advertising purchases are based on theCPM pricing model, while only 10% of the purchases are based on the CPApricing model. The remaining 42% of the purchases are based on a hybridof the CPM and CPA models, wherein the Buyer pays a significantly lowerCPM rate than what would normally be charged by the Seller under the CPMpricing model, as well as an additional fixed fee for every action takenby a Viewer in response to the advertising message.

As there is an increasing number of Sellers entering the market andcompeting for Buyers, there is an increasing pressure on Sellers toattract Buyers with CPA (performance-based) deals. As discussed above,however, it may be too risky for Sellers to create and manage content ona budget that relies strictly on CPA. Sellers must base a certain amountof the advertising purchase on CPM (or other fixed-fee pricing models)to insure that, regardless of the appeal of a certain advertiser'smessage, they will have enough revenue to create and manage sitecontent.

As discussed below, improved methods and apparatus are described for thepresentation and sale of advertisements in a computer network system orother environments. Embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented using general purpose processors or special purposeprocessors operating under program control, or other circuits, adaptedto particular process steps and data structures described herein.

The following terms refer or relate to aspects of the present inventionas described below. The descriptions of general meanings of these termsare intended to be illustrative instead of limiting.

Exposure—the display of the message in the media. In terms of Internetadvertising, exposure may be measured in units, called “impressions”,which is typically, but not limited to, a single image or message filedownloaded to a Viewer's computer. Exposure could also be thepresentation of an image in print media, television media, etc. Exposuremay be based on units of time, size of the message, or any other factorsthat affect display of the message in the chosen media.

Bonus Exposure—additional exposure provided (e.g., for an advertisingmessage). In terms of Internet advertising, bonus exposure may beexpressed as an additional number of impressions for a given advertisingmessage.

Action—an action of the Viewer that expresses interest in theadvertising message.

Cost Per Action (CPA)—a pricing model based on a price per action takenby the Viewer in response to an advertising message.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)—a pricing model (e.g., in an Internetenvironment) where the price is based on the thousands of impressionsdownloaded to Viewers.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, a system andmethod are presented that rewards an advertising Buyer with bonusexposure of one or more advertisement messages. In one embodiment, thebonus exposure is awarded based on Viewer action (e.g., a viewerexpressing interest in the Buyer's advertising message as describedabove). The first embodiment of the present invention is presented inconnection with a computer network system environment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram showing the interrelationshipbetween a Buyer, a Seller, and Viewers over a network system is shown. ASeller 110 may provide impressions on a web-site or other location thatcan be accessed by other computers over the Internet. In some cases, theSellers actually provide the network location for storage of the mediaor may act simply as a Broker between a Buyer 120 and a third party thatwill present the advertisements.

The Seller 110, for example, enters into an agreement with the Buyer 120to publish the Buyer's 120 advertising message. For example, in the caseof Internet advertising, the Seller 110 may agree to post the Buyers'120 advertising messages on a web page that is part of a web-site. Theexposure of the advertising message is usually measured in units of timeor numbers of advertising messages delivered to Viewers. In the case ofInternet advertising, exposure may be measured as the number ofimpressions of the advertising message downloaded to Viewers 130.

The Buyer 120 may employ an Advertising Agency 125 to create theadvertising messages and negotiate agreements with the Seller 110. But,the Buyer 120 may act as its own Advertising Agency 125. When the Buyer120 employs an Advertising Agency 125, it authorizes the AdvertisingAgency 125 to create the advertising messages (or advertising campaigns)and transfer those messages to Sellers 110 for publication.

A Viewer 130 is one of a set of persons who view or receive thepublished advertising messages. In the case of Internet advertising, theViewer 130 is one of a set of persons who view web-sites or otherwisereceive downloaded content from publishers by way of the Internetnetwork and a browser (e.g., Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer)exposed to the advertising message. Actions taken by the Viewers arereported back to the Seller 110 in this embodiment. Though referred toherein as individuals, the Buyer 120, Advertising Agency 125, Seller110, and Viewers 130 may by individual or groups of computer devicescoupled to the Internet or other computer network.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method forpricing advertising is described herein. In this embodiment, the methodcan be referred to as the “IPC (Impressions per Click) pricing modelwhen applied to a communications network or Internet environment. Inthis embodiment, the Buyer 120 pays a predetermined fee to the Seller110 for a predetermined amount of exposure of the Buyer's advertisingmessage. The Seller 110 agrees to award the Buyer 120 with bonusexposure for the advertising message based the amount of interest in theadvertising message expressed by at least one Viewer 130.

In this embodiment, the amount of bonus exposure awarded to the Buyer120 is based on a predetermined formula or set of rules that isnegotiated as part of the agreement between the Buyer 120 and the Seller110. Bonus exposure can be based on a threshold of interest expressed byat least one Viewer 130, or a ratio of interest expressed in response tothe amount of exposure provided. The interest can be measured in actionsperformed by the Viewer 130 in response to viewing the advertisingmessage. The method of calculating bonus exposure may be differentdepending on whether actions are counted in response to thepredetermined exposure or in response to the bonus exposure.

In the case of Internet advertising, for example, the Seller 110 mayagree to present a predetermined amount of exposure (e.g., the displayof a certain number of image impressions, the playing of a certainnumber of audio files, etc.) of the Buyer's 120 advertising message to aset of Viewers 130. A Viewer 130 views the Seller's 110 web page (orother downloadable content) containing the Buyer's 120 advertisingmessage. In this example, the Seller 110 awards the Buyer 120 bypresenting bonus exposure (such as a certain number of imageimpressions) of the advertising message based on the number of Viewer130 actions (such as “click throughs”) made in response to this exposureof the advertising message.

Referring to FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram for a method of sellingadvertising is shown according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. At block 210, the Seller 110 has secured an agreement withthe Buyer 120 (or its Advertising Agency 125 acting on the Buyer's 120behalf) to publish the Buyer's advertising message. The agreement isbased on an example of the IPC pricing model previously described

In block 212, the Buyer 120 sends (or authorizes its Advertising Agency125 to send) an advertising message to the Seller 110. Then, in block214, the Seller 110 receives the advertising message from the Buyer 120or the Advertising Agency 125 and causes the advertising message to bepublished. For example, in the case of Internet advertising, an image ofthe advertising message can be displayed within a web page along withother downloadable content.

In block 216, Viewers (e.g., Viewer 130 in FIG. 1) are exposed to theadvertising message. As described previously, the exposure of theadvertising message is based on the parameters of the media in which itis presented. For example, if the advertising message is presented onthe Internet, for example, the advertising message can be presented as abanner advertisement, an audio file, etc.

In block 218, Viewers express interest in the advertising message byperforming some actions recordable by the Seller 110. For example, inthe case of Internet advertising, the Viewer 130 can “click” on a banneradvertising message, causing the browser to be redirected to a websitedetermined by the Buyer 120 and associated with the banner advertisingmessage. A Viewer's 130 “click” can be counted as an action made byViewer 130 in response to the advertising message. Other examples ofViewer actions in the Internet environment are described above.

In block 220, the Seller 110 records the number of actions made by theViewers in response to the predetermined exposure of the advertisingmessage. For example, in the case of Internet advertising, the Seller110 can record the number of actions (such as “click through”) made bythe Viewers in response to the predetermined number of impressionspresented by the Seller 110 to the Viewers. In one embodiment of themethod, only actions made in response to the predetermined exposure ofthe advertising message are counted. Alternatively, actions made inresponse to both the predetermined exposure and the bonus exposure(described in further detail below) of the advertising message may becounted.

In block 222, the Seller 110 rewards the Buyer 120 by authorizingadditional exposure of the advertising message to the Viewers based onthe agreement (incorporating the IPC pricing model) between the Seller110 and the Buyer 120. For example, in the case of Internet advertising,the Seller 110 may reward the Buyer 120 by providing advertisingresources to allow for the downloading of 1000 bonus impressions forevery one action made by the Viewers in response to the presentation ofthe predetermined number of impressions of the advertising messages.

Seller 110 and Buyer 120 may agree that bonus exposure will only beawarded based on the number of actions received in response to thepredetermined exposure of the advertising message. Alternatively, asstated above, Seller 110 and Buyer 120 may agree that bonus exposure mayalso be awarded based on actions received in response to both thepredetermined exposure and the bonus exposure of the advertisingmessage. Different thresholds or ratios may be used to determine theamount of bonus exposure awarded depending on whether actions arereceived in response to the predetermined exposure or bonus exposure.For example, in the case of Internet advertising, Seller 110 and Buyer120 may agree that 1000 bonus impressions will be awarded for everyaction received in response to the predetermined number of impressionsdownloaded to Viewers 130 and only 100 additional bonus impressions willbe awarded for every action received in response to bonus impressionsdownloaded to Viewers 130. In such a case where bonus exposure isawarded for actions received in response to predetermined exposure andbonus exposure, the parties may agree to some limit in the total amountof exposure to be awarded (to prevent the campaign from going onindefinitely).

In block 224, the Seller 110 provides bonus exposure of the advertisingmessage to the Viewers. In the case of Internet advertising, the Seller110 may display bonus impressions of the advertising message to theViewers 130.

Referring to FIG. 3 a decision tree diagram illustrating an example ofthe process of presenting exposure of an advertising message based on amethod of the present invention is shown. Prior to block 320, there isan agreement between the Buyer 120 and the Seller 110 where the Buyer120 will pay a predetermined fee for a predetermined exposure of theadvertising message (e.g., CPM) and the Buyer 120 will receive bonusexposure of the advertising message based on the number of actionsreceived from the set of Viewers in response to the predeterminedexposure of the advertising message.

At block 312, the Seller 110 provides the predetermined exposure of theadvertising message to the Viewers. In block 314, the Seller 110 recordsthe interest of the Viewers made in response to the predeterminedexposure of the advertising message (e.g., through the monitoring ofViewer actions taken with respect to the advertising message). TheSeller 110 calculates the amount of predetermined exposure remaining andany earned bonus exposure based on the recorded interest of the set ofViewers in the predetermined exposure of the advertising message.

In decision block 316, it is determined whether there is anypredetermined exposure remaining. If predetermined exposure isremaining, the process returns to block 312 and the Seller 110 continuesto provide predetermined exposure of the advertising message to theViewers. If there is no predetermined exposure remaining, the processproceeds to block 318.

At block 318, the Seller 110 provides any earned bonus exposure of theadvertising message to the set of Viewers and calculates the amount ofbonus exposure remaining. In decision block 320, it is determinedwhether there is any bonus exposure remaining. If bonus exposure isremaining, the process returns to block 318. If no bonus exposure isremaining, the process proceeds to block 322 where the Seller 110discontinues presentation of the bonus exposure.

The method described in FIG. 3 is only one example of a decision treefor authorizing and awarding bonus exposure, and other decision treeschemes may apply depending on the nature of the agreement betweenSeller 110 and Buyer 120 in terms of how bonus exposure will be awarded.

Referring to FIG. 4 a block diagram of a communications network that canbe used to implement an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Inthis example, the system 400 includes a Seller 110, a Buyer 120, astatistical database 115 (such as a file server), a set of Viewers(e.g., Viewer 130), and a communications network 140. On skilled in theart will appreciate that each of the components of FIG. 4 may includeone or more computers and/or servers that include processors or the liketo execute a set of instructions to implement the methods describedherein.

A server controlled by the Seller 110 may be a Web server that includesa processor, program and data memory, mass storage, and a communicationlink 141 (to connect to communications network 140). The processor,program and data memory, and mass storage operate in conjunction toperform the functions of a display device (such as a web “site”). Theserver controlled by the Seller 110 responds to the set of Viewers usinga network protocol (such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP).

The server controlled by the Seller 110 receives and maintainsstatistics related to advertising messages downloaded to the set ofViewers as well as actions (such as “click-throughs”) received from theViewers. Such statistics are maintained as an internal or externalstatistics database (e.g., stored at a data server 115) that is incommunication with the server controlled by the Seller 110 and the Buyer120. Interested parties (such as Seller's 110 or Buyer's 120administrators) can access and examine the statistics database 115 viacommunications network 140.

A computer controlled by the Buyer 120 (and/or a computer controlled bythe Buyer's 120 Advertising Agency 125) may include a processor, programand data memory, and mass storage which operate in conjunction toperform the functions of a Web server. The Buyer's 120 computer and/orAdvertising Agency's 125 computer communicates with the servercontrolled by the seller and coupled with the statistical databaseserver 115 using a communications protocol (such as HTTP). The contractbetween the Buyer 120 and the Advertising Agency 125 to create theadvertising messages to be published by the Seller 110 is optional inthis embodiment of the present invention. In such a case where the Buyer120 creates its own advertising messages (or advertising campaign), theBuyer 120 would be acting as its own Advertising Agency 125.

In this embodiment, each Viewer 130 has access to a computer containinga processor, program and data memory, and mass storage. The processor,program and data memory and mass storage operate in conjunction toperform the functions of a Viewer 130 (e.g., as a Web “browser”). Eachcomputer utilizes a communications protocol (such as HTTP) in thisembodiment to request and receive network objects from the servercontrolled by the Seller 110. The requests and responses are routedusing the communication network 140.

In one embodiment, the communications network 140 may include theInternet, an intranet, extranet, virtual private network, enterprisenetwork, or another form of communication network or a combination ofthese systems. In a preferred embodiment, the communications network 140includes a network capable of routing messages between and among one ormore servers controlled by any set of Sellers, any set of Buyers (and/orany set of Advertising Agencies), and of the Viewers. However, there isno particular requirement that the communication network 140 mustcomprise an actual network, so long as the communication network 140includes at least some technique for communication between any oneViewer 130 and any one Seller 110.

The communication links 141 operate to couple the server controlled bythe Seller 110, the computer controlled by the Buyer 120 (and/or theBuyer's Advertising Agency 125), and the computer accessed by the Viewer130 to the communications network 140.

In one embodiment, the Seller 110 contracts with the Buyer 120 toprovide a predetermined amount of exposure of the Buyer's advertisingmessage to Viewers 130. This agreement incorporates the IPC pricingmodel described previously. The parameters of the predetermined exposureand the bonus exposure are stored on the statistics server 115, whichmay be readily accessed by the Seller 110.

One of the Viewers requests the download of a web page from the Seller110 via the communications network 140. These requests are received bythe Seller 110 using the server, which downloads a web page to thebrowser accessed by the requesting Viewer 130. The downloaded web pageincludes a number of content elements, including instructions for theViewer 130 to request the download of an advertising message to beincluded as part of the web page or in addition to the web page (such asin a separate window or audio file).

In addition to downloading the web page, the server controlled by theSeller 110 may access the statistical database 115 which records theViewer's 130 request and obtain statistical information about theparameters of predetermined exposure and bonus exposure negotiated aspart of the agreement between Seller 110 and Buyer 120 as well as thenumber of actions taken by the Viewers in response to the downloadedadvertising message. Using the information recorded in the statisticaldatabase 115, the server controlled by the Seller 110 determines whetherto authorize the download of the requested advertising message.

The Viewer 130, in response to receiving the downloaded web page fromthe Seller 110 and the instructions to request download of anadvertising message to be included within that web page, requests thedownload of the display of the advertising message to be included withthe display of the web page. If the server controlled by the Seller 110has determined that additional exposure of the advertising message isauthorized, the server controlled by the Seller 110 provides furtherexposure of the advertising message to the Viewer 130 and utilizes thestatistical database 115 to record that it received and honored therequest from the Viewer 130. The computer accessed by the Viewer 130receives the authorized exposure of the advertising message from theSeller 110 and displays that advertising message with the downloaded webpage.

If the Viewer 130 is interested in the advertising message and performsan action, such as a “click-through”, instructions associated with theadvertising impression cause the browser accessed by the Viewer 130browser to be redirected to a web-site determined by the Buyer 120(usually the Buyer's 120 e-commerce web-site). The Viewer's 130 actioncan then be recorded in the statistical database 115.

If, at such time that the Viewer 130 requests the exposure of theadvertising message from the Seller 110, and the server controlled bythe Seller 110 determines, by accessing the statistical database 115 andcalculating the authorized exposure of the advertising message under theparameters of the agreement between the Seller 110 and the Buyer 120,that further display of the advertising message cannot be authorized,then the Seller 110 may utilize its server to download for exposure anadvertising message from a different Buyer 110 or exposure of aninternal advertising message, which will then be displayed to the Viewer130 along with the downloaded web page.

Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment of the present inventionis shown. The system of FIG. 5 is similar to that of FIG. 4, except thatthe Seller 110 is not a publisher, but acts as a broker between theBuyer 120, the Viewer 130 and a Third Party Web Site Owner 150. In thisembodiment, a Viewer's 130 request for download of exposure of theadvertising messages is received by the Third Party Web Site Owner 150and relayed to the Seller 110 where a determination is made, along theprocedure set forth in the description of the preferred embodimentabove, whether exposure of the advertising message may be authorized. Ifexposure of the advertising message is authorized, the server controlledby the Seller 110 downloads the advertising message to a servercontrolled by the Third Party Web Site Owner 150 for delivery to theViewer 130. Any action made by the Viewer 130 in response to thedownloaded advertising message can be relayed between the servercontrolled by the Seller 110 and the server controlled by the ThirdParty Web Site Owner 150. In yet another alternative, the Third PartyWeb Site owner has already stored the advertising message in its serverdatabase, and is simply waiting for authorization of the download of theadvertising message to the Viewer 130.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that embodiments of thepresent invention may result in several advantages for Viewer, Buyers,and Sellers. For Viewers, more of the advertising messages presentedwill be relevant and compelling because bonus exposure resulted fromViewer actions concerning these messages. For the Buyer,performance-based price incentives are provided. For example, the methodand system described above provides a potentially lower fixed price perimpression. An example of an advertising campaign incorporating themethod and system previously described is provided below: If a Buyerrunning an Internet advertising campaign commits $50,000 to thepredetermined exposure of its advertising message and negotiates thepredetermined exposure (in Cost Per Thousand Impressions) at $10, theBuyer's predetermined exposure will be 5,000,000 impressions. Assumingthat the negotiated IPC is 1,000 bonus impressions awarded for eachaction received in response to the predetermined exposure and usinghypothetical action rates, the effective cost per thousand impressionsdelivered may be as follows.

Action % # of Actions Bonus Imp. Total Imp. Effective CPM 0.1 5,0005,000,000 10,000,000 $5.00 0.2 10,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 $3.33 0.315,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 $2.50 0.4 20,000 20,000,000 25,000,000$2.00In other words, the performance of the campaign (as expressed byinterest elicited from the Viewer) extends the exposure of that campaignwhich effectively decreases the effective predetermined cost for thatexposure.

For the Seller, a fixed-price model is presented that can guaranteerevenue. The system can also encourage Buyer loyalty because Buyers areencouraged to maintain loyalty to Sellers not only because they earnbonus impressions, but also because the award of bonus impressions maybe conditional on completion of the contract. The present system canalso provide a preferable way to balance use of excess inventory. Forexample, Sellers of Internet-based advertising often use excessinventory for internal advertising. While such in-house advertising mayincrease Viewers interest in the Seller's site, too much in-houseadvertising may deter Buyers from advertising with the Seller becausethey perceive that Seller site has no market demand. Also, the presentinvention may provide a preferable way to encourage proper creativityand placement of the advertising message. Buyers may be encouraged tonot only design advertising messages that encourage Viewer interest inthe site, but to compete for positioning of the message, which may havethe effect of increasing the fixed price of exposure.

Although embodiments are specifically illustrated and described herein,it is to be appreciated that modifications and variations of the presentinvention are covered by the above teachings and are within the purviewof the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and intendedscope of the invention.

The present invention can be extended to other advertising and mediaenvironments outside of the Internet or other communication network. Forexample, the present invention can have application in billboardadvertising, television and radio advertising, and advertising in printmedia.

In the case of billboard advertising, the Seller may agree to displaythe Buyer's advertising message on a billboard for a predeterminedperiod of time. If for example, the billboard includes a specialtelephone number, the Seller can reward the Buyer with bonus exposure ofthe advertising message by displaying the advertising message for alonger period of time based on the number of telephone calls receivedfrom the Viewers in direct response to seeing the advertising messagedisplayed on the billboard. The bonus exposure can be based on callsreceived during the predetermined period of time or during both thepredetermined period of time and the bonus exposure (depending on theagreement between Buyer and Seller).

In the case of broadcast advertising, the Seller may agree to broadcastBuyer's 120 advertising message (again, including a telephone number todial for more information, for example) a predetermined number of times.The Seller may reward the Buyer 120 with a bonus exposure bybroadcasting the advertising message an additional number of times basedon the number of telephone purchases received by the set of Viewers indirect response to a Viewer's response to one or more of thepredetermined number of broadcasts of the advertising message.

In the case of print media, an image of the advertising message can bedisplayed in a printed publication. The Viewer can call the Seller inresponse to seeing the advertising message and that telephone call wouldbe counted as an action. To assure that the action was made in directresponse to the advertising message, the Viewer 130 can be asked for aunique identifier that is displayed as part of the particularadvertising message.

As with the Internet and communications examples described above, theamount of exposure and the amount of interest (measured, for example, bythe number of actions taken by the Viewer) can be recorded so as tocontrol the appropriate amount of exposure (including bonus exposure)provided for the advertising messages.

1. A computer-implemented method of selling electronic advertising spaceusing a computer system, the computer system connected to an electronicnetwork by which the computer system can receive information from one ormore viewer computers, the method comprising: ascertaining a cost to anentity per impression of an advertising message, the advertising messagefor display on a website such that the advertising message is viewablevia the one or more viewer computers; detecting a quantity of actionsperformed by users of the one or more viewer computers; and as thequantity of the detected actions increases, decreasing the cost perimpression of the advertising message to the entity.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the actions comprise selections of the advertisingmessage.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions compriseclick-throughs.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity comprisesone of an advertiser and a buyer of the advertising space.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the entity provides at least one of a good and aservice, the at least one of a good and a service being a subject of theadvertising message.
 6. A computer-implemented method of sellingelectronic advertising space using a computer system, the computersystem connected to an electronic network by which the computer systemcan receive information from one or more viewer computers, the methodcomprising: generating for display an advertising message on a website,such that the advertising message is viewable via the one or more viewercomputers; detecting a quantity of actions performed by users of the oneor more viewer computers; and as the quantity of the detected actionsincreases, increasing a reward to an entity.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the actions comprise selections of the advertising message. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein the actions comprise click-throughs. 9.The method of claim 6, wherein the entity comprises one of an advertiserand a buyer of the advertising space.
 10. The method of claim 6, whereinthe entity provides at least one of a good and a service, the at leastone of a good and a service being a subject of the advertising message.11. The method of claim 6, wherein the reward comprises a reduced costper impression of the advertising message.
 12. A computer-implementedmethod of enabling an entity to conduct an advertising campaign using acomputer system, the computer system connected to an electronic networkby which the computer system can receive information from one or moreviewer computers, the method comprising: ascertaining a cost to theentity of the advertising campaign, at least one message associated withthe advertising campaign for display on a website such that theadvertising message is viewable via the one or more viewer computers;detecting a quantity of actions performed by users of the one or moreviewer computers; and as the quantity of the detected actions increases,lowering the cost to the entity of the advertising campaign.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the actions comprise selections of theadvertising message.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the actionscomprise click-throughs.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the entitycomprises one of an advertiser and a b buyer of advertising space onwhich the message is displayed.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein theentity provides at least one of a good and a service, the at least oneof a good and a service being a subject of the advertising message. 17.The method of claim 12 wherein the cost to the entity of the advertisingcampaign comprises cost per action.
 18. The method of claim 12 whereinthe cost to the entity of the advertising campaign comprises CPM. 19.The method of claim 12 wherein the cost to the entity of the advertisingcampaign comprises effective CPM.
 20. The method of claim 17 wherein thecost per action comprises cost per click.